NUMEROUS dedicated people have been helping to give something back to the community by volunteering at the centre.

For the last three years, Milly Stothert has been going in three times a week to keep the garden spick and span.

The 79-year-old has helped to transform the site from a barren piece of waste ground into a fertile and well-stocked vegetable patch and flower garden.

She has been part of a team who pulled together to develop the plot, which also picked up an award of merit for community effort in the North Tyneside in Bloom competition.

Like the other helpers, she finds the work rewarding and satisfying.

She said: “The area behind the centre was a real mess when we first started. It was just a load of soil which had been dumped here in a big heap. It’s been transformed now into an allotment and a nice rockery.

“People love to come and see the garden and I like decorating it. The site is a real asset which residents value.

“The work gives me real pleasure. If this centre closes, I would sit in my chair, stare at the four walls and vegetate. There would be nothing to do.”